The potential 2019/2020 Real Madrid squad
Real Madrid is preparing for a massive summer transfer window as their plans for this season failed dramatically. Zinedine Zidane has returned with full authority on who goes and comes in while the media are not planning to take any days off in coming out with rumors about who may eventually join.
After looking through most of the outlets, I decided to take a shot in predicting what next season will look like at the Santiago Bernabéu knowing very well that in the end, it’s extremely difficult to predict who the 25 players will be.
For this to happen, we need to take a look at our current squad and decide who will be leaving. In my opinion, the following players will not be a part of the squad next season.
Departures
Keylor Navas
Even though Zidane is a massive fan of the Costa Rican goalkeeper, it will be hard to hold onto him with Thibaut Courtois at the club as well. If the French manager stayed last summer, things would have been easier for him as he could have blocked the Courtois arrival just like he did with Kepa Arrizabalaga from Athletic Bilbao.
Since the Belgian is currently at the club and arrived less than a year ago, Zidane may opt to sell Navas given that he’s older as well.
Nacho Fernandez
A player who only a year ago was depended on massively has been one of the victims of this season with his form dropping dramatically. It’s rare to have a player such as Nacho who is always more than happy to come off the bench and help the team in any way necessary but with the recent arrival of Eder Militao, things have just gotten a little more difficult for the Spaniard who will probably want more playing time as he reaches the final years of his career.
However, Real Madrid will let him go only if they have a suitable replacement and a total of at least four central defenders. With Vallejo possibly leaving as well, it’s hard to predict what the future holds for Nacho.
Jesús Vallejo
The club like Jesús Vallejo and Zidane labeled the defender as “interesting” before playing him against Athletic Bilbao but that doesn’t mean he is staying.
Unfortunately for the player, his injury woes are something that Real Madrid won’t want to deal with and therefore, seeking a loan deal for him for next season is looking like the best case scenario.
Luka Modric
It is looking increasingly likely that Luka will no longer be part of this team by the end of the summer transfer window. The Croatian isn’t getting any younger and you can definitely see that throughout the course of the year.
Zizou will want someone younger and more solid next year and as of now, it looks like that option may be Paul Pogba (more on that later).
Brahim Diaz
After completing his move to Real Madrid in January from Manchester City, Brahim Diaz has not been given as many opportunities as he thought he would be. With a player of his age, constant playing time can do wonders, but, that isn’t something that Zidane can promise him.
Therefore, he may be looking for a move elsewhere on loan before coming back and seeing how things go from there.
Gareth Bale
The will he/won’t he debate has been ongoing for years but with the big changes promised this summer, it looks like Gareth Bale will be one of the players asked to leave. Unfortunately, this isn’t as easy as it sounds with not many suitors agreeing to his transfer fee and/or wages.
Recent reports have suggested that a loan deal may be the best option for both parties involved but as of now, this is one topic that may have a very late and dramatic ending.
Mariano Diaz
This is also another piece of news that shouldn’t really surprise too many people but Mariano Diaz simply isn’t good enough to be on the team and his injury problems throughout this season definitely have not helped.
The new Real Madrid number seven has not been able to live up to the hype and Zidane will definitely be looking to replace him this summer after already doing so a couple years ago.